Multiple outlets describe the final phase of the Soyuz 11 mission, in which three astronauts die shortly before returning to Earth after 24 days in space. The reports say the crew had been preparing for re-entry and were on track to return successfully when a fatal emergency occurs. While the exact sequence is not detailed in the provided excerpts, one account emphasizes the astronauts’ “final minutes” as they are killed, and another highlights “final seconds” describing an apparent loss of breathable air while the capsule is in deep space. Both versions frame the deaths as sudden and occurring close to the scheduled return, turning the mission’s return preparations into a tragedy. Across the sources, the common elements are the mission length, the three-crew Soyuz 11 setting, and the fact that the astronauts die during the end-of-mission period before re-entry. The outlets differ mainly in how they characterize the immediacy of the final moments rather than in the core event described: the crew’s death near the time they were preparing to come back to Earth.